Tuesday, 27 November 2012

General indifference

by Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 27th Nov 12

Four years ago, after the 26/11 Mumbai
attack, the three service chiefs dashed off letters to the MoD listing out the
equipment deficiencies that hamstrung their forces. Their barely-disguised
accusation to the politicians and bureaucrats: you have failed to equip us, so
think carefully about what you ask us to do!

Pakistani generals know well that the
Indian Army is unfit to take the field against them. In making this bald
statement, I give away no secrets. Every effective military intelligence
organisation --- and Pakistan we know has one --- possesses devastating compilations
of our army’s crippling shortage of tank ammunition; the night-blindness of our
tanks; the absence of modern artillery; our obsolete air defence network; and
shortfalls in practically every parameter by which an army’s equipment
readiness is gauged. All this is kept secret only from the Indian people who
faithfully support their army, sending sons and daughters to die for the
country, often in unnecessary ways.

Of course our army is fit for war, these
patriotic citizens will say, pointing to the decades of counter-insurgency in
J&K and the north-east that have claimed more soldiers’ lives than all the
wars fought by independent India. But rolling back secessionism is different
from fighting a full-scale war. All that is needed for counter-insurgency is
excellent light infantry and India’s infantry battalions are equal to that
task. Kargil, too, was an infantry job, even if one that took all our reserves
of 155-millimetre artillery shells to drive home. But full-scale war requires
much more; and our mechanized forces, field artillery, air defence networks,
combat engineers and logistics are woefully unequal to the task. This was true
during the 1999 Kargil conflict; when India mobilised in Operation Parakram
after the 2001 attacks on Parliament; four years ago during 26/11; and it
remains true today.

But nobody looks at this cold-eyed, because
the generals hide their shortfalls behind the heroism of the fighting troops.
Go through the recent media coverage of the 1962 war and, astonishingly for
such an abject defeat, the army comes out smelling of lotuses, floating
beatifically in the mire. Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon and BN Malik are
blamed for throwing our brave jawans under the Chinese bus! Could this have
happened had the generals held fast? When army chief General KS Thimayya
resigned in 1959, Nehru personally intervened to minimise the damage. If a
chief were to resign today over equipment shortfalls, does anyone doubt the
intensity of the political inquisition that would follow?

But there is a two-fold reason why army
chiefs do not resign or even thump their boss’ tables: firstly, they seem
unable to contemplate giving up power and the institutionalized perks and
privileges associated with senior rank. Secondly, and this is crucial, the
generals know that the military, far more than the bureaucrats and politicians,
is responsible for the lack of war readiness.

Take the deplorable state of affairs in the
armoured corps, which operates the armoured tanks that are the cutting edge of
India’s three strike corps. As this newspaper reported on Monday (Nov 26, 2012,
“Army scuttles Arjun trials to push through T-90 purchase”) the army much
prefers to buy equipment off-the-shelf from countries like Russia, rather than
painstakingly developing and manufacturing equipment better suited for our own
operating environment.

Incredibly, the army has not developed an
indigenous armour philosophy in the last 65 years. Every serious army, even
Israel, designs its tanks around a custom-made philosophy. Since human
resources are a key constraint in tiny Israel, and distances are small, Israeli
tanks are heavily armoured, lumbering vehicles where crew protection counts for
more than the ability to quickly move long distances. In contrast, Russian
tanks, designed to sweep rapidly through the vast expanses of Europe, are
mobile, lightly armoured and have a smaller, three-man crew since a tank is
expendable. The Indian Army, with one of the world’s largest fleets of 4000
tanks, has neither an armour philosophy, nor a tank design bureau that can
produce indigenous designs.

The army has more generals than the
Government of India has secretaries. But none, from the army chief downwards,
has insisted on an armour philosophy, an essential pre-requisite for an
India-specific tank. Instead the T-90 tank, designed and built for freezing
Russia, is now being air-conditioned (heresy!) so that its electronics can
survive the Indian summers. In an incredible moral contortion, those who back
the indigenous Arjun are branded anti-national; while the generals who support
the Russian T-90 style themselves as patriots!

Crafting an armour philosophy is not an
intellectual feat. Three bright armoured corps colonels could do it in a week,
given inputs on India’s border geography; war termination objectives; likely
adversaries; the army’s manpower profile and India’s industrial capabilities.
But generations of armoured corps generals have had better things to do with
their time; successive army chiefs, and directors of operations and planning
have been too preoccupied, or simply unconcerned, to ask why this is so.

If the army’s entire planning hierarchy has
ever questioned the absence of any doctrinal coherence in the strike
formations’ equipment, this has not resulted in any remedial action. But our
generals believe the road to salvation passes through Moscow; respond to the
challenge of indigenisation by buying more T-90s, just as the air marshals buy
more and more Sukhoi-30 fighters. Does this point to Russia’s colonisation of
our generals’ operational thinking, or it is just apathy and lack of
professionalism? Either way, the answer is depressing.

1. 'army chiefs do not resign or even thump their boss’ tables: firstly, they seem unable to contemplate giving up power and the institutionalized perks and privileges associated with senior rank. Secondly, and this is crucial, the generals know that the military, far more than the bureaucrats and politicians, is responsible for the lack of war readiness';

2. 'The army has more generals than the Government of India has secretaries': and

3. 'colonisation of our generals’ operational thinking, or it is just apathy and lack of professionalism?'

Sir, you must be a hated man in the hierarchy of the ?Army for hitting the nail on the head so accurately.

The only point I would digress from your is on the 'colonisation of our generals’ operational thinking', for in our operational thinking we are more of a slave to the American's philosophy for , I secretly believe, that its not out of choice but out of the compulsion that our Generals do not know the Russian language. If they could read and understand the Russian language than you allegation would have been hundred per cent correct.

As of know, the only plausible answer left, after discarding all others, leads to a plain simple conclusion , that our Generals are completely un-professional despite all protestations to the opposite.

Coupled with this trait of our Generals is the immorality and the rapacious character especially as regards to financial probity , and then we do have a very depressing picture.

Absolutely.the strange thing is that how can the military bigots be so ludicrous that they are compromising With National Security.Neither The Selection Process of officers nor arms accquisation bears clarity.Secrecy is what so called an ornament of our army.whether the army is large or small it doesnt matter,what important is how fit they are,what sort of capabilities do they have,r they smart or an obtuse force.sad to learn the state of our army.i would rather hail it as an elephant with huge body n myraid manpower bt No teeth at all.

Before I comment on the main points that you are making in this article, I first wanted to inquire on your comment that India's 1962 war with China was an "abject defeat" for India. How so?? India was not anticipating an attack, and so Indian troops on the border, outnumbered by more than 8-1 and outgunned, were overwhelmed. After the Chinese invasion, but while Indian territory was still occupied, the Indian Parliament passed a declaration that the Chinese invaders would be driven from Indian soil. The fact that the Chinese retreated before the Indian Army had the opportunity to fight them (resulting in India getting back all the territory it had before the Chinese invasion) does not make the 1962 war any less of a victory for India.

There are clearly lessons that India needed to learn from 1962, as it was not prepared for the 1962 assault. However, the only "win" by China may have been convincing the Indian media (and others) that it won the war.

The attitude of Compromise has cost us heavily. All of our Top Generals are under some form of Black-mail by no one knows who. Be it lure of perks, or fear of being ratted out. Just a look at Nitin Gadkari, who can understand the man's dilemma? Being neck deep in business mal-practices, yet leading the largest opposition. Still he clings to his power. It is being in such awkward situation that you will find almost all of our Generals, Air-Marshals and Admirals. Since every one of them has compromised at some time to gain favors and promotions. Our politicians know this very well, since they have promoted this system, where merit does not matter, rather your alliances do. By this article you have only given credence to an already known fact. The question is, will this ever even resonate in the corridors of power? If not, then what are we "the people" supposed to do, "VOTE", for whom? Even the present govt does not want to pin accountability and assignment of responsibility to failures. In India success has many fathers, failure has none, not even step-father! Look at Hazare, Kejriwal, what should we make of them, when even "the people" have lost interest in them as the march of time has carried on. "The People of India" are the main culprits for tolerating such an ignominious existance.

DSRO is crippled organization. Promise is never kept at DSRO. Everyone is working from nice pension for old age. Every scientist having 1 crore budget without sanction spend and goes into waste , no result at all. DSRO is stock pile of obsolete equipment which they have purchased lot of item at high of cost. Don’t believe check into DSRO Lab. Look at China/Pakistan state run defense agency run fine-tune they are exporting also. DSRO should be outsourced to private firm like L&T and TATA etc. which has a better project plan.

Time too read the riot act to the DRDO and move on to the Pvt Sect for our needs? Re-look at DPP which give tremendous powers to DRDO to take on developmental work despite lack of expertise? Blame the Generals for not being pushy enough? I think the entire system requires an overhaul. You could suggest a model in your blog so that it could give ideas and a suitable model developed for future induction?????

Our national ad-hocism, which we foolishly take pride in as 'jugaad' manifests itself in myriad ways - be it a COAS thinking that during his tenure there wont be a war.

The last of the 71' war vets have hung up their uniforms, and barring CI Ops, no-one has seen combat - unlike the 1947-72 period when we still had combat experiences, apart from young officers who served in Burma and WW II.

What is given kudos is when flimsy wrought iron brackets are foolishly welded on tanks, for 'bedding storage', and when tanks have a design shortcoming where the Engine Oil is heated atop the exhaust (good for Russia, bad for Thar), or when gunners pray that their indigenous ammo would not explode in the breech block itself, or the gun barrel itself would not pulverise, or that the rounds in the carousel would not malfunction.

Units are more worried about NOT having their tank leak fluid on the Rajpath, on National TV, and get bogged down, than get into such long term scenarios.

Tanks are anyway a 20th century anachronism of 'victory is still measured on foot'. What would be more effective is a strong fleet of anti-tank Helicopters which can fire Hellfire missiles, coupled with strong UAV drone complement. No need to lug 200-gallon barrels of diesel, and make WWII like halts like sitting ducks while the 'B Echelon' marries up.

We still are in the Mahabharata mode, where we perhaps expect the enemy will stop fighting at night and engage in 'jhappi-pappi' over tales of 'my father's Lahore and your father's Bulandshahar'.

Is the military leadership of our nation "obsessed" with the conduct and execution of war like the Germans of WW II or the Americans thereafter? If not, then is the military capable of a strategic victory over our two neighbours, or does it only aim to stop their advances and minimise loss of territory?

The lack of war reserves is a shameful scandal, and it is amazing how indian companies are consistently kept away from defence production while we have no qualms about importing from foreign companies, paying inflated prices, losing foreign exchange and placing outselves at their mercy in the event of a war.

Or maybe the military operates under the assumption that there will be no war.

On another note, how would you explain the current state of affairs from what existed during the spectacular success of Bangladesh?

Dear AjaiWhen you are more interested to find consultant's job at some private MNC than equipping your own military.. it happensMajority General part of Planning of army modernization have not seen battlefield themselves or lost anyone thereand Indian Scientist are mislead with information and QR's laid by Armed forcesDo anyone know that Arjun Tank has seen five different prototypes. Every time prototype meet QR, QR were changed and process use to return to Design Table, so whats happening to F MBT is not new.....

Col.Shukla,you are saying things as they are! Not many people like to do that nowadays, esp wrt to matters military. Even Kargil 1999 was an example of poor Generalship. Luckily for the Generals, the Subalterns and men of the IA fought their guts out. The malaise has been visible from 1962 onwards. Nehru and Krishna Menon were imbecilic while Mullik lived in "cloud-cuckoo land". But what about the Generals of that time? Most of them were nothing to write home about!

@kulari94,Gentleman, you seem to be living on some other planet, going by the contents of your post.

First of all, the Indian Army in general terms "got pasted".Secondly, the Chinese occupied land in Aksai Chin and Ladakh, which they occupy to this very moment.Thirdly, the Chinese steam-rolled their way into the erstwhile NEFA (present-day Arunachal Pradesh)while the Indian Army retreated head-long. Then the Chinese halted their advance in that region and UNILATERALLY WITHDREW.

That my friend, is a very short history lesson for you for now; since any other details may tax you too much.So do the logical math and deduce who came out on top?

Since you seem to be quoting the HAQEEQAT screen-play here; I need to remind you that was more of the fairy-tale genre; though the songs were nice and Priya Rajvansh looked beautiful (but wooden).

Ajai,Excellent observations on a much needed topic of discussion “Leadership and strategic vision in the armed forces of India”. Your observations match in the main theme with a recent ariticle “Army’s most critical deficiency: Good Generals” by Lt Gen KK Khanna published in the Indian Defence Review Issue Net Edition,27-Nov-2012. Most civilians and may be even common soldiers, are not aware of this deep flaw that is gripping our armed forces. We by default blame soley politicians and bureaucrats. But it’s a viciuous circle and boils down to the the society/mind set we live in. We are generally easily bullied by foreigners and get cowed down by the more powerful. We tend to replay a small victory but hide the big losses. We do not trust each other and definitely try to put each other down to impress our bosses. The army brass, bureaucrats and the politicians come from the same society and display this negative mindset. Morever the army brass have a colonial hangover mentality of being subdued by the “goras” and now the “Congress”. The bureaucrats continue serving the “Congress” with purpose of keeping it in power as the sole priority with development of the masses more as an accident then by design.Contrast this paltry state of affairs of our armed forces with the confidence and strategic vision of those of Pakistan and China have displayed. This is evident in the synergy they have come up with against us. Resultantly we are not even capable of fighting and defeating Pakistan let alone fighting a two front war.Paksitan may be an economically pitiable state but militarily it is having its cross eye squarely on the disintegration of India using a thousand cuts and then proceeding for the kill. There is already a critical mass in India which will support a Pakistani misadventure and will pressurise the morally bankrupt Congress to swallow the humiliation akin to Mumbai 26/11.

A brilliant article that makes a honest assessment of the lack of moral courage to admit inadequacies in thinking. It takes a brave man to point out the chinks in his own home's armour. This article should be essential reading in the army mess halls.

@kulari94... as strategic & aggresive foriegn policy... when the political decision is made... for operation shoe horn... the generals & marshals... had put on blinders of 61st cavalry... thinking that is the highest gallantry award with honour & pride... to see and take the cue and prepared for it... or the generals & marshals were... having diminished mental capacity... and on disability payment...

The poor state of affairs is all pervasive in every arena. No one has the time to go into details of anything. They (senior officers) are all telling each other that All iz Well at every level of the hierarchy. Take the case of Information Technology, the army should have spent approximately 5000 crores of IT expenditure till date and yet till date the Indian Army has not one Army Wide Enterprise Level System in Operation. If you count how many officers have been awarded or rewarded on account of IT achievement, it look like we have beaten Microsoft or Oracle hollow... This is only the tip of the iceberg. The malaise is all pervasive..

China occupied Aksai Chin before the 1962 war. Because China did not end up occupying Aksai Chin as a result of the 1962 war, its occupation of that territory cannot be taken into account in determining who won the war.

As I was saying, China did not acquire any additional territory as a result of the war, and retreated from Indian territory. India won the war.

To Anonymous on November 28, 2012 at 16:17Below are my responses to your specific allegations:

“First of all, the Indian Army in general terms ‘got pasted’.”

This is not an accurate characterization. The Indian troops on the border were defeated but were fighting under conditions very unfair to them. No matter what standard you use, the Indian troops were outgunned and outnumbered. If the Indian troops had the appropriate artillery and even if the numbers had been two or three to one, the results would have been different. To say that the Indian Army “got pasted” essentially states that the troops poorly defended the border and is incredibly disrespectful to the veterans of that war, as well as the troops who died defending the country. History is replete with stories of wars where soldiers who are surprised, outgunned and/or outnumbered do not prevail, i.e. German invasion of Soviet Union, Pearl Harbor, etc.

“Secondly, the Chinese occupied land in Aksai Chin and Ladakh, which they occupy to this very moment.”

To start off, there is no Chinese occupation of Ladakh. Further, Chinese occupation of Aksai China cannot be considered as a factor in determining if India won the 1962 war because the Chinese occupied Aksai Chin prior to this war.

“Thirdly, the Chinese steam-rolled their way into the erstwhile NEFA (present-day Arunachal Pradesh) while the Indian Army retreated head-long.”

As stated above, the Indian troops in that area were outgunned and outnumbered.

“Then the Chinese halted their advance in that region and UNILATERALLY WITHDREW.”

It does not matter why China withdrew. The fact remains that China withdrew and India got back all of its territory. Regarding your “UNILATERALLY” comment, the party that unilaterally offers peace terms and retreats is considered the loser. If the Chinese thought that they could have successfully defended NEFA territory, they would have stayed. It is clear that the Chinese wanted, and still wants, the territory as they currently refer to it as “Southern Tibet”. The Chinese were right – they could not have successfully defended NEFA. Though they promised the people of NEFA that they would be back, they have not come back. There is a reason for that. Though it is clear why China retreated back behind the line of control, it does not matter why China did so, but only that the retreat occurred.

I think that as the standard of living of the average Indian improves, and more Indians become aware of the specific facts relating to the 1962 war, they will view India as the victor that it was in that war.

Anon@28 Nov 03:28, perhaps your PRC 50 cent masters should have asked you to brush up your English before asking you to post on an Indian blog? Amazing how you Chini trolls come and pretend to be somebody else.

Anon@8:40, wake up. Trying the same old tricks by blaming DRDO for all imagined ills, while the Army sinks further into a morass of incompetence and corruption...wont work anymore. There is ample evidence now that DRDO made products work and work well, when the users work with them to finetune them. In contrast, the Army seems to think that acting more British than the British themselves, walking around with an inflated opinion of themselves, everyone else is a boffin, a bloody civilian is all that it takes to run an organization. Adarsh, and the umpteen scams now show the Army needs to introspect.

You said:"To start off, there is no Chinese occupation of Ladakh. Further, Chinese occupation of Aksai China cannot be considered as a factor in determining if India won the 1962 war because the Chinese occupied Aksai Chin prior to this war."

First of all refer to the Official History (GOI) of the 1962 Conflict (Was it a War?) authored by Dr.P.B.Sinha and Col.Anil A.Athale IA (Retd.)& Chief Editor Dr.S.N.Prasad.

Chapter 07 deals with Ops.in Ladakh. Pg.318 onwards describes how the posts fell from ca. 20th October onwards and then goes on to describe what happened at some great length; the facts contained therein are at great variance with what you choose to believe!

Nothing has changed on the ground. The Chinese are still where they ingressed and we are more or less where we were when the Chinese UNILATERALLY called a Cease-Fire, which was accepted by India.

Now about Aksai Chin. It was one of real reasons of the 1962 Conflict (Jhagade ka Jad as it were). That is where the idiotic "Forward Policy" was created and executed first.

"As stated above, the Indian troops in that area were outgunned and outnumbered."

Anything unusual in that?? Attacking Forces have to be larger than defending forces (among other things); to have some chance of success.

"It does not matter why China withdrew. The fact remains that China withdrew and India got back all of its territory".

Is that so??

Again a statement; out of 'cloud-cuckoo land'. To mitigate your misery; I refer you again to the Official History of the 1962 Conflict. Specifically; Chapters 04,05,06 deal with NEFA (present day Arunachal Pradesh)

"Regarding your “UNILATERALLY” comment, the party that unilaterally offers peace terms and retreats is considered the loser."

Chapter 09 of the History; deals with the Cease-Fire and its aftermath. For some reason you choose to use the word 'retreat' in reference to the Chinese. Unfamiliar as you are with Military Terminology, you need to understand that it was a 'withdrawal'. Which happens to be very different.

I love your description of:"the party that unilaterally offers peace terms and retreats is considered the loser." If only that were true!BTW, did you say that in context of a Military OP. or a Street-Fight between some hoodlums?

"The Chinese were right – they could not have successfully defended NEFA. Though they promised the people of NEFA that they would be back, they have not come back. There is a reason for that. Though it is clear why China retreated back behind the line of control, it does not matter why China did so, but only that the retreat occurred."

Ah again, the perfidious Chinese! They promised the people of NEFA that they would be back but did not keep their word! Anything else? ;-)

Of course there is a reason why the Chinese withdrew: they had achieved their purposes; militarily- to relieve pressure in Ladakh and in turn to pressurise India in her area of weakness i.e. NEFA and politically- as Mao said, they had spited India internationally and humiliated Nehru and the Indian leadership. Their job was done.

Chapter 10-Review & Reflection; of the History is worth reading too. It gives ample clues in to the Indian weaknesses which were many.

Finally you said; "I think that as the standard of living of the average Indian improves, and more Indians become aware of the specific facts relating to the 1962 war, they will view India as the victor that it was in that war."

It has little or nothing to with the standard of living of Indians to understand Historical facts. It has more to do with the ability to be honest with oneself and the rest of the world and face upto the specific facts as they are/were.

Otherwise one can remain content with any version of History that one chooses to believe in. Even a Bollywood screen-play can then pass for history. :-)

So basically if someone walks into your home, whoops your butt, makes your run away to safety, then goes on his way, that means that you won and he lost is it?

And if we are unprepared for the assault, then the war doesnt count eh? Ready steady go needs to be said I guess. We were not defeated, we were merely unprepared??!!

Bury your head in the sand and keep chanting Mera Bharat Mahan. This ostrich affliction clearly is not limited to the army, but is much more widespread. Celebrate victories and pretend that the defeats never happened. "All is well"

Shuklaji joins the bandwagon of Sekhar Gupta type of journalists in orchestrating and sustaining a deliberate and prolonged "Hate the Generals" Campaign which has become so frequent after VI Pay Commission !

Shuklaji joins the bandwagon of Sekhar Gupta type of journalists in orchestrating and sustaining a deliberate and prolonged "Hate the Generals" Campaign which has become so frequent after VI Pay Commission !

Welcome Ajay Shukla !

1 December 2012 08:36"

I do wish that you would've debunked Ajai Shukla's (well-defined) presentation on technical infirmities.Rather you chose the IPL Cheer-leading routine instead. And rendered yourself irrelevant. What a pity!

The statement " rather than painstakingly developing and manufacturing equipment better suited for our own operating environment' contradicts its own other statement "the generals know that the military, far more than the bureaucrats and politicians, is responsible for the lack of war readiness.

Now how can the military be blamed if they are purchasing ready to use stuff rather than trial and errors for decades...atleast 2 decades....for the shambles...

Its like an immature reader of military affairs would take in that the Mig 21s were flying coffins....and blame the IAF whilst the role for the 21s crashing was the same guys who pn the blame on the army here.....DRDO/HAL/NAL ..who not ony failed in rectifying their errors but shamelessly fooled the IAF and India so much that a frontline fighter was used as a trainer, denying training to the assets of India, murdering them by denying them a trainer by not producing one nor letting the IAF buy one ( same excuse as the arjun tank)...and lastly raise the bofors like ghost..anyone buying good armamanet...blame them for being spies whilst actually eating into the budget and giving nothing..the LCA has till to get an indegenious engine...

A SOLDIER SERVES AS LONG AS HE IS REQUIRED TO, BY THE PRESIDENT. HE SERVES WITH HONOUR AND FIDELITY. HIS NATION IS OFTEN OBLIVIOUS- SO THE SOLDIER FADES TO OBLIVION - ANOTHER SOLDIER TAKES HIS PLACE- SO PLEASE LET HIM/HER DO THEIR BIT.OLIVE GREEN WILL FADE IF YOU WASH IT WITH A CHEAP DITERGENT MADE OF VERY ERUDITE KNOWLEDGE AND AND MUCH APPRECIATED JARGON.THANK YOU FOR HELPING THE 'NARKS AND CHANDALS'IN THEIR ASSESMENT.

Haha!! the only person intelligent and capable enough to lead the military is out in the cold... Superceded or perhaps asked to resign. Your cynicism reminds me of Arvind Kejriwal. Is this bitterness over being denied promotion that is coming out in the form of one-sided negative diatribe against the Army? You shud be arrested for spreading falsehood with malicious intent. Your article has no merit and is merely the rant of a frustrated ex-officer... STOP NOW...